1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to specialized tables, particularly to tables or carts used in surgical operating rooms, and specifically to an instrument shelf for use on carts to promote efficient and organized availability of surgical tools while optimizing the maintenance of a sterile field in the operating room.
2. Background Art
During even moderately complicated surgery, the surgeon must have rapid access to numerous surgical instruments. To this end, the instruments are disposed upon a sterilized wheeled cart (or sometimes a wheelless table) situated in the operating room. The cart has one or more shelves upon which the surgical instruments are placed.
In complex surgeries, so many instruments may be required that more than one shelf are required to hold all the instruments for ready use. Accordingly, presently in the art, more than one cart may be used, which crowds the operating room and complicates efforts to maintain the sterility of the operating area. Alternatively, operating room personnel may place instruments upon more than one tray, and then stack the trays one upon another on a single cart, which unfortunately complicates access to the instruments. Un-stacking and re-stacking trays of instruments upon a single cart takes too much time and increases the possibility of mishaps. Nevertheless, there is a need for rapid and ready access to all the instruments, without needlessly cramping the work area in the operating room with multiple carts--especially in smaller operating rooms.
Various attempts have been made to improve the stability, compactness, and facility of carts and tables in the furniture art generally, such as by providing various shelves and collapsing shelf arrangements, and modes of improving cart stability and adjustability. Examples of previous efforts include U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,742 to Maynard; U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,073 to Isaacs; U.S. Pat. No. 1,715,076 to Schmidt et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 1,624,862 to Elliot, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,650,293 to Morey et al. None of these prior efforts were specifically directed at solving the problems unique to carts and tables used in surgical operating rooms, and leave those problems unresolved.
Another challenge in surgical operating rooms is the preservation of the sterile field. It is known to provide covers for hospital gurneys and tables, such as the cover shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,053 to Herum, and to provide some means for securing a cover to a table, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,363 to Jones. Nevertheless, a significant need remains for a drape for covering tables and carts, that is specially suited for the special needs and demands of the operating room. Against the foregoing background, the present invention was developed.